First, decide how big of a hard drive you need; this will depend on how
much data you store. After that, determine what you'll use your notebook for.
Will you be tackling the most basic computing tasks, or do you worship Scorcese
and plan to make your own DVD movies?
Drives: Hard drive | CD and DVD drives | Swappable vs. fixed drives |
External drives
Drives: Hard drive | CD and DVD drives | Swappable vs. fixed drives |
External drives
Hard drive A notebook
hard drive removed from the system. |
This magnetic disk provides you with space to save
programs and files indefinitely--or at least for the life of the drive. Notebook
hard drives can be bigger than 60GB, but these giant drives cost hundreds of
dollars more than the default 20GB notebook drives. You'll need only a 20GB or
30GB drive unless you store lots of movies or tons of pictures. Be warned that
capacity alone does not make a good hard drive. The hard disk's rotational speed
also makes a big difference; a 5,400rpm notebook disk delivers significantly
faster performance than a 4,200rpm model. The faster the disk spins, the better
your notebook will perform overall. |
CD and DVD drives Unless
you're going budget, don't settle for anything less than a CD-RW
drive. |
You need at least a CD-ROM to install software, of
course. But unless you're buying a budget notebook, don't settle for anything
less than a CD-RW drive so that you can burn your own CDs. For watching movies
and playing monster games on the road, consider a CD-RW drive that doubles as a
DVD drive. Some notebooks now offer DVD-rewritable drives, which can store up to
4.7GB on one disk. But unless you need to store huge files, such as movies, you
may not need the more expensive DVD-RW
drives. |
Swappable vs. fixed Here is a
media module slipping into a swappable drive. Fixed drives won't let you remove
the module. |
The least expensive notebooks come with
fixed (built-in) drives. In other words, if you buy your notebook with a
fixed DVD-ROM, you're stuck with that drive. A swappable drive bay, on
the other hand, gives you optimum flexibility. For instance, you can pull out
the DVD-ROM drive and swap in a combo DVD/CD-RW drive or even a second battery
on many notebooks. We recommend going with a swappable bay if you can afford it.
Keep in mind, however, that the smallest and lightest ultraportable notebooks
may include neither fixed nor swapped optical drives, relying instead on
external USB drives. |
External drives This is an
external drive tethered to a Sony notebook. |
External drives--storage and media-burning
options that hook up to your notebook via cable--come in many shapes and sizes.
Most of these drives hook up to your notebook's USB or FireWire connector. Drive
choices include external floppy, CD-ROM, combo DVD/CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, hard
drive, Zip, LS-120, and others. There are also smaller external drives, such as
the Trek 16MB USB ThumbDrive, that plug directly into your USB connector sans
cable. These little drives, sometimes called keychain drives, are
brilliant for transferring small amounts of data between notebooks or between
notebooks and PCs. Many notebook users don't need external drives, but there are
scenarios that require them. For instance, if you buy a tiny ultraportable that
lacks a built-in CD-ROM drive, make sure you get an external one so that you can
load software. |
16%
7%
Graphics card capability also is important to a desktop replacement notebook. Also neat little features, like the location of the microphone away from internal sound sources (ideally two one at each top corner of the display, haven't seen it yet) manual off switch on all wireless connections, hardware firewall chip for all external network connections, intergrated numeric keypad on 17" models. The most important thing of course is an effective stand to get the notebook off your lap when relaxing in a rocker recliner and doing some power computing (games ÷Þ).